Posts Tagged ‘Thrash’

As you can probably see, I’ve been on a bit of melodic stint lately. Roughly since…2001, so I thought it’s about high time we shook things up a bit with everyone’s favourite B-movie extras Gwar, and their new record. Catching these guy at Bloodstock was…enlightening, certainly with thoughts of “Is that…yes, yes that’s Hitler and he’s…he’s ejaculating green into the crowd. Well, the members of the yacht club won’t stand for that!”

While a large part of Gwar’s live show is the shock factor of the stage antics, and the admittedly great costumes and personas, it’s significantly harder to put that across on record. The album begins with the four part title track, a violent fusion of thrash, early hardcore and all the low budget horror violence a man could wish for. Therein is the essence of Gwar, there are no giant memorable riffs that pull a song out from the rest, but the throaty shouts of songs like Tick-Tits and the question “What could be better than ticks on your tits?”. I’ll give it to them, Gwar a very crude, but very funny band. Without lying on the outright clinical horror of death metal, although Litany Of The Slain might just be the one semi-serious song on the album.

While I wouldn’t exactly call Gwar a singalong band, choruses that are shouts of “Tick-Tits!” and/or “Genocide!” are annoyingly infectious the extent you wonder if the band haven’t put them in just to piss you off. Regardless, the few moments of melodic hook are lost in a thrash maelstrom who’s main focus is often naught but unbridled malevolence toward the listener.

I have a feeling if you own a Gwar album, you pretty much own them all. Despite the juvenile bristling energy leaping off TBPoH, it’s true that Gwar have honed their sound to an art. If, the last time someone offered you a hug, you punched them in the dick, I’d certainly recommend it, you angry angry badger.

When I was first reconnecting with school friends on Facebook, I remember a girl I added who shall remain nameless and her section about music, which said something like “nothing violent and angry like heavy metal”. Ignoring the whole scene of melodic metal, but whatever. I bring this up because there’s nothing I’d rather do than happy slap the dozy bint with the latest offering from Death Angel.

Relentless Revolution starts as it means to go on, a huge slab of thrash that’s angrier than Joe Fritzl coming home to an empty basement. Death Angel are one of the few bands that have kept to the Bay Area sound throughout their career, Metallica going country, Testament going a bit death and Slayer making the same album since 1991. There’s a few interludes of quite beautiful Latin fingerpicking, the finale of Claws In So Deep, and Volcanic is an entirely acoustic track sandwiched in between just under an hour of violent, middle aged thrash.

It’s not big, and it’s not clever, but if you like pushing people around in a mosh pit and getting your frantic air guitar wrong, you do a lot worse.